


Stressed Out

by Heichous_Girl



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 08:24:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heichous_Girl/pseuds/Heichous_Girl
Summary: Levi comes home to hear sniffles coming from the couch.This is my first fic, and unbetaed. Constructive criticism welcome.





	Stressed Out

“Hey, I’m home.”

Levi stepped into his and Eren’s shared apartment, kicking the door shut while maneuvering through the frame to drop his load of grocery bags onto the kitchen counter.

“Hey,” came a sniffled reply. 

A brief wave of panic struck Levi’s chest, and the dropped purchases were forgotten in order to comfort the man he loved. 

“Eren,” Levi began, sitting next to the brunet’s crumpled form on the couch. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” came the muffled reply. Levi sighed, rubbing soothing circles into his lover’s back. Why must he be so stubborn?

“Is it work? Mikasa?” 

A choked hiccup was the only response. 

Levi lowered his voice, a growl almost surfacing at the thought. “Is it your father?”

“God, Levi, no!” Eren shot up, revealing puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. “Nothing like that.” 

Levi let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He sank back into the plaid pattern; Hanji’s choice, not his. Despite griping about how much he hated the damn thing, he would never get rid of it. It was the first piece of furniture to go into his new home—one gained from his own merits—where painful memories of screams and bruises wouldn’t threaten to surface at every corner.

“Then what, Eren?”

Eren pushed aside the piles of notes scattered in between them and sat up properly. He scooted over and accepted Levi’s open arms, soaking in his scent. Levi smelled like sugar cookies and smoky cologne; a weird combination, he realized, but to the undergrad staying up all hours of the night to finish a term paper and then rushing to work his shift at the campus bookstore to pay off student loans, he smelled like home.

“It’s just, I work so hard, Levi. I work so hard, but nothing seems to turn out right. I get up early to study so I can pass my classes. I go to my classes so I can get a degree, so I can be a successful adult. But in order to go to classes I have to pay tuition.” He slammed his fists into the cushions, untangling himself from Levi. “A ridiculous tuition, which forces me to get a minimum wage job to pay them off. And in order to work, I have to give up precious time that I need to use to sleep, because I need sleep to wake up early to study!” 

He was yelling now, which would be a problem if they were in the freshman dorms, where Eren should be staying. 

“And in between all of that, I’m somehow supposed to find time to do things like laundry. Clean the house. Call my mom and tell her how I’m doing. Socialize and network. And, most importantly, decide what I’m going to do with my life!”

Angry tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, ready to run down the wet streaks left by former rage on his cheeks. He turned to Levi for guidance—Levi, always so strong at put together. Levi, who took care of him and treated him like a princess. Levi, who was his rock.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do, Levi,” he whispered, voice catching on the last syllable of his partner’s name. 

Levi gazed at the tear now making its way towards Eren’s chin. His heart ached, wishing he had a magic wand to wave and fix all of their problems. He remembered what it was like to be a starving college student, literally missing meals for multiple days in a row sometimes. Ending up in the hospital after passing out and falling from a second story balcony at a meet and greet one night. Eventually giving in and letting Erwin take him out for lunch and dinner day after day without fail. “I’m not gonna give you false hope. Life sucks right now. It’s shitty, but that’s how it is.” 

Eren sniffed, looking at the carpet. 

“That doesn’t mean you should smother your feelings. I’m here to help you.”

Eren raised his eyes indignantly, opening his mouth to snap something but Levi raised a hand.

“I’m not gonna whisk you away on a magic carpet. I know you want to do this yourself. But just because you don’t want me to contribute towards paying off your loans doesn’t mean I’m not gonna support you in other ways.”

He put a hand on the other’s knee. “I will always be here for you. I’m making you a promise right now, Eren Jaeger.” He leaned in. 

“I am going to listen to you at any hour of the day, no matter what you are saying, because what you have to say is worth hearing. I’m going to take you out as often as I can, because no amount of money saved can compare to seeing your eyes light up like a lightbulb when you see a small animal, or taste a new flavor of that shitty frozen yogurt you like.”

Eren was staring now, a flush starting to creep into his cheeks.

“I’m going to spoil you rotten, because you deserve to be given the world and more. I’m going to whisper fucking sweet nothings into your ear when you’re almost asleep in our bed, because you need to know that everything your father said to you about yourself was fucking wrong.” 

Levi was trembling now, fearing that he might have said too much. “Listen, Eren. I’m not really good at this feelings shit, so I’m gonna keep it simple.”

He took Eren’s soft hands into his own calloused ones, looking him in the eye until Eren met his gaze. He needed the sentimental brat to know that he was dead sure about this—more sure than he than he had ever been about anything else in his life, for that matter. 

“I love you, Eren.” He swallowed, the words still hard for him to say out loud to anyone, even his beloved. “And though I don’t have the financial resources to buy you a ring right now, I want you to know that you are getting one someday. You are the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with, so you better damn well be prepared to give me an answer when I ask you, because I won’t take anything but a yes or no. Fuck, you’ve turned me into a sap.”

The younger let out a wobbly giggle at that, hands squeezing back in reassurance that no, this was not to much; it was everything he needed and more in this moment of hurt and vulnerability. Levi started again.

“So whenever you’re feeling like this, sweetheart, I want you to start thinking about your ring. Your future, our future. Because I want that band to be fucking perfect, you hear me?”

Eren nodded, eyes shining with fading tears. “Thank you, babe.”

Levi let a small smile form at the corner of his lips. “Don’t mention it.”

Eren stood up and pulled Levi into his arms, holding him tight. “Let’s go to bed now.”


End file.
